2 Pages with MBS

Discover the best bits of the best books read by people you admire. Michael Bungay Stanier hosts the podcast where brilliant people read the best two pages of a favourite book. Listen as authors, leaders, activists, academics, celebrities, and entrepreneurs dig in with MBS to explore the insights and ideas within. Whether it’s books that inspire leadership, change, self-development and growth, power, strategy, ambition, productivity, or creativity and innovation - this is hand-curated wisdom from people who know. These are the books that change minds, shape lives, and inspire great work and worthy goals.

Business
Books
Self-Improvement
26
155. Safe, Vital, and Repairable: Michael Bunga...
Michael reading from How to Work with (Almost) Anyone, and discussing the blueprint for building your BPR, as well as the investment required to keep it alive.
22 min
27
154. A Hunger to Learn: Ryan Hawk, Author of ‘W...
Ryan Hawk reading from David McCullough’s The Wright Brothers, and discussing leaving people, places, and things better than you found them.
50 min
28
153. How to Be With Your Contradictions: Brandi...
41 min
29
152. What If You Were Living a False Life?: Hal...
Hal Gregersen reading from Parker Palmer’s Let Your Life Speak, and discussing wrestling with the question, ‘Will I ever measure up and matter?’ throughout his life and the impact that Parker Palmer’s work had on him.
47 min
30
151. How to Make Up the Rules: Ash Ambirge [rea...
Ash Ambirge reading from Elliot Liebow’s Tell Them Who I Am, and discussing how exploring her freedom as a nomad has helped her discover where she belongs.
46 min
31
150. Exploring Illusion and Ambition: Vinh Gian...
Vinh Giang reading from Eric Jorgenson’s The Almanack Of Naval Ravikant, and discussing choosing the right path for growth, which begins with taking responsibility for your life.
35 min
32
149. From the Vault: How to Surrender to Your H...
Thibault Manekin reading from Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, and talking about discovering and living your purpose.
45 min
33
148. Know Your Neighbours, Know Yourself: Zita ...
Zita Cobb reading from Raghuram Rajan’s The Third Pillar, and discussing the responsibility of man to adopt an active and sustainable role in your community, because, after all, we need our neighbors.
46 min
34
147. The Power of Subtraction: Leidy Klotz, aut...
Leidy Klotz reading from Eduardo Galeano’s Soccer in Shadow and Sun, and discussing not only overcoming the intimidation of paring your creations, but recognizing when and where to trim the excess.
38 min
35
146. How to Claim Your Genius: Ozan Varol, auth...
Ozan Varol reading from Elizabeth Gilbert’s Big Magic, and discussing reconnecting with your origin story, staying curious, and claiming your genius.
46 min
36
145. Winning Trophies vs Being Seen: Laura Gass...
Laura Gassner Otting reading from Ursula Hegi’s Stones from the River, and discussing the unfairness of perfectionism & recognising what success means to you.
58 min
37
144. Success, Failure & Design: Debbie Millman,...
Debbie Millman reading from David Foster Wallace’s Consider the Lobster, and discussing the presence of design in everything that we do, especially leadership.
46 min
38
143. How You Are You: Anil Seth, author of ‘Bei...
Anil Seth reading from Daniel Dennett’s Consciousness Explained, and discussing the concept of the brain as a prediction machine & how consciousness controls our personal navigation of life.
43 min
39
142. How Loss Can Lead to Love: Laurel Braitman...
Laurel Braitman reading from Paul Kalanithi’s When Breath Becomes Air, and discussing becoming comfortable as a risk-taker, to live a meaningful and nourished life.
50 min
40
141. How You Get Good at Something: McKinley Va...
McKinley Valentine reading from David Robson’s The Expectation Effect, and discussing understanding and utilizing your mental resources.
45 min
41
140. How to Practice: Neil Heyde [reads] ‘The C...
Neil Heyde reading from Richard Sennett’s The Craftsman, and discussing the importance of learning how you learn in order to grow and succeed in your work.
43 min
42
139. How to Survive Disaster: Peter Brannen, au...
Peter Brannen reading from Annie Dillard’s Teaching a Stone to Talk, and discussing how understanding the past helps to preserve the future.
33 min
43
138. How to Move from Pessimism to Optimism: Ay...
Ayse Birsel reading from Twyla Tharp’s The Creative Habit, and discussing the most tedious design project; remodeling your life into one you want to live.
38 min
44
137. When All Is Confusion: Eric Klein, author ...
Eric Klein reading from Goswami Kriyananda's The Bhagavad Gita and sharing a few sacred teachings you can use to create the world you want to live in.
42 min
45
136. How to More Deeply Understand Your World: ...
Caroline Webb reading from Lisa Feldman Barrett’s How Emotions Are Made, and discussing how emotions work, and how experiments can help us explore our deeper rhythms and identify what feels good.
37 min
46
135. How to Face Fear: JeVon McCormick, author ...
JeVon McCormick reading from Napoleon Hill’s Think and Grow Rich, and discussing his experience growing up in poverty and how it has shaped his views on wealth and ambition.
52 min
47
134. How to Find Your Values: Whitney Johnson, ...
Whitney Johnson reading from her book Dare, Dream, Do and discussing dreaming within the context of your values.
17 min
48
133. Give > Take: Bobby Herrera, author of ‘The...
Bobby Herrera reading from Brett McCracken’s The Wisdom Pyramid, and discussing the difference between knowledge and wisdom.
34 min
49
132. Happy Holidays from Michael
2 Pages with MBS is on holiday break until January 10th.
1 min
50
131. When Building is Being: Shariff Abdullah, ...
Shariff Abdullah reading from Christopher Alexander’s The Timeless Way of Building, and discussing the timeless way of being.
47 min